T’was the Night After Christmas
A Winter Party with Billy Stritch
December 26-30, 2024 | 54 Below, New York City
Everyone sings a holiday show before Christmas – but only Melissa Errico would invent a new kind of show especially for the happy days after the holiday, when we finally get to relax, open our presents, play with the good toys, return the horrible sweaters, and generally kick back and enjoy ourselves without stress.
’Twas The Night After Christmas will be Melissa’s special holiday party, and, in the company of the inimitable Billy Stritch, will truly be something different and especially joyous: a winter party between Christmas and New Year’s for every kind of holiday-er. Winter light and winter pleasures will be their theme; Melissa will sing American songbook’s Christmas and New Year’s classics, of course, from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” to Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” … but the beloved Broadway star of My Fair Lady, High Society, White Christmas, and more will also show off the inimitable storyteller style that has made her a favorite New York Times contributor.
She’ll spin a few tales throughout the evening– about why the greatest Christmas songs are always recorded in mid-July and why they’ve been mostly written by American Jewish songwriters – and she’ll even offer some wicked new holiday themed parodies of songs by her beloved Stephen Sondheim. (What makes a mother lose her mind more than assembling kits from Ikea?) Join Melissa and Billy, an award-winning duo, as they sing St. Nick off the stage, celebrate the December sun and greet the ever-louder footsteps of the approach of the coming year in ’Twas The Night After Christmas.
Featuring Ava Arkin (Express: A New Musical off-Broadway) on all dates, and Tony Award® winner Alice Ripley (next to normal, American Psycho, Side Show) and cabaret favorite Robbie Rozelle on Dec 28.
Reviews
“Melissa strings together a mixture of holiday favorites and Broadway classics recast as holiday songs, plus a few off the beaten path, all while singing to perfection and charming the crowd with that signature Melissa Errico smile.”
— Broadway World
“The show perfectly captures that cocktail of conflicting emotions we all feel in the final days of the year — and this year seemingly more than ever. After “Small World,” her toast to the revival of “Gypsy,” and what is still the world’s no.1 New Year’s song, Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? she ends on an optimistic note with “The Best is Yet to Come,” brilliantly nailing the mixed mood of trepidation and hopefulness that most of us are experiencing as we transition into whatever 2025 is likely to bring.”
— Will Friedwald
(The Sun, Wall Street Journal)
“Errico was perfectly at home at 54 Below, “Broadway’s living room.” She started the show literally wearing a pair of green plaid pajamas, complete with sparkly dangly earrings, celebrating the fact that Christmas was over and we could all relax and sleep in now. Her engagement with the crowd felt completely organic. At one point, while she was singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” some silverware clattered in the back. She finished the verse she was on and ad-libbed, “Sounds like home,” drawing uproarious laughter from the audience. ‘”
— Broadway World